NewSecurityBeat

The Land Matrix Visualizes Ebbs and Flows of Global “Land Grabs”

Over the past few years, large-scale acquisition of land by foreign or domestic firms, be they public or private, have been making headlines. But although these “land grabs” have received a great deal of attention, their details remain largely unknown. Which countries are the primary investors? Which are the main targets? What is the land used for?

The different tools help tease out different kinds of information, while the interactive format keeps you from being overwhelmed by numbers. For example, the maps show that of the 121 land acquisitions accounted for in India (at press time), 95 are by domestic companies, and most of India’s international acquisitions are located in East Africa.

Other data provides insight into the drivers behind land acquisition. While most land is used for agriculture, the investment by sector page shows that not all the deals are related to food. Some crops, like jatropha, are used primarily to produce biofuels; rubber is another commonly produced non-food crop. Others, like corn, sugarcane, and soy, can be used either for food or biofuels which makes delineating the drivers of land acquisition difficult.

From most to least, forestry, industry, mining, livestock, tourism, renewable energy, and conservation also account for a small portion of deals.

“Un-Transparent” By Nature

The Land Matrix does offer caution regarding the reliability of its data for several reasons.

First, since land deals are “un-transparent” by nature, any index will be incomplete and may contain errors. It also notes that some countries may be overrepresented. Peru’s open data policy may make it appear to have proportionally more deals than other countries in the region, for example. Similarly, interest in Africa may mean that deals in African target countries are documented more frequently than those in other regions.

Second, because of its open source nature, not all of the data is from verifiable sources, and the website is still undergoing updates and upgrades (it’s still in beta, as the header says).

Though the Land Matrix provides an extensive amount of data, it is far from a comprehensive look at global land grabs. Nor is it intended to be; it is a “tool that facilitates an on-going discussion,” as the website puts it. But the matrix could play a valuable role in illustrating the flows of money and produce in a complex and murky set of relationships.